Burlington by Heather Dixon (Review by Amanda Woodruff)

Star rating: 3.5

When I first read the synopsis sent to me about the book Burlington by Heather Dixon I was automatically intrigued. It sounded like a dark twisty thriller, my favourite kind!

I really appreciated that the book was centered around women, most of the characters were women, with the husbands playing a secondary part. This is something that I don’t often find in thriller books, I have developed a deep love for twisty thrillers with a female lead.

This story is about a woman named Mae who was raised by a working class mother and always had money worries growing up. She wasn’t the most popular kid growing up and she took those struggles with her as she entered adulthood. Mae was working a job she didn’t love, raising her two girls and yearned for the “perfect life”.

She thinks her dreams are all coming true when her husband gets a new job in a small town called Burlington.

This small town is picture perfect, the houses are grand and perfect, the wives are beautiful and wear the perfect clothes, their hair and nails are always done perfectly. Mae yearns to become friends with these women and have all the things she didn’t have growing up.

Mae gets to quit her job, and stays home raising her children while her husband works at a higher paying job. She begins thinking her dreams are coming true. Everything seemly is perfect until Mae gets tangled up with some of the local women.

Mae meets Evelyn and Leah who everyone crowds around, they are the queen bees of the school yard and the town. Evelyn also happens to be Evan’s wife, Evan is the boss of Mae’s husband. He urges her to become friends with the other mom’s in order to make his work life easier and for her to make some “mom friends”.

Little does Mae know she will encounter lies, rumours, manipulation and even death happening around her.

This book kept me on my toes at times however I did predict what was coming before it did. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys thrillers with a mom plot!